Winter Wonderland

I like sunshine and warm weather as much as the next person - but how can you not get excited about the first snow of the season?! We are loving it.

Steve swept our neighbors' sidewalks before church on Sunday. Daphne helped.

I'm getting better at putting gloves on wiggly fingers. Mittens are so much easier.

Here's our little snowbaby! Daphne decided it needed a hat.

And a kiss.

We also went sledding (on the gently sloping four-foot "hill" on the side of my parents' house... she got stuck about halfway down and needed another push. Oh well, she loved it anyway.)

We got a couple more inches of snow today. Enough for a real snowman. Aunt Kelsey did everything but the middle section. I think I made it a little too big.

Despite Daphne's grumpy face and posture (above), she had a blast the entire time. I made the mistake of telling her it was time to go inside, just before bringing out the camera. At least she stopped crying for the picture.

Here's one of the goofy faces she makes when you ask her to smile. Silly girl.

Something about making her come inside today, because she was soaked with snow and I knew she had to be freezing, even though she begged to stay outside and made me feel like I spoiled all the fun - those are the moments that make me feel like a "real" mom. Of course, after I explained to her that she'd be getting a nice hot bath once she came inside, she was happy to oblige.

We're expecting 4-6 inches (or more!) over the next few days, before it turns to rain. That's a big deal around here, where we mostly just get rain.

I love snow days!

First Things First (My 2012 Reading Schedule)

Because an unwritten goal is only a wish, and because a goal written on a post-it note is a soon-to-be-lost-or-forgotten wish, I decided to post my 2012 Reading Schedule (I no longer make the goal to read 100 books a year, mostly because it is unrealistic now that I have a daughter, but also because I realized how much junk I was reading just so I could meet the goal. Nothing inappropriate of course, but not much that was helping me become a better person either. It was quantity versus quality, for sure.) So here's the new plan, and the order is important...

30 minutes - scripture (standard works only, with at least 15 minutes in The Book of Mormon)
30 minutes - other uplifting/inspiring reading (the Ensign, Believing Christ, Daughters in my Kingdom, Gospel Principles, etc.)
30 minutes - secular study (parenting books, history books, foreign languages, classic literature, etc.)

THEN, and only then, may I have...

30 minutes of "fun" reading (Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and so forth)

While the ideal is to read for two hours every day from a variety of sources and genres - the real point is for me to focus my reading time on what matters most - making the scriptures and other inspiring books a priority. So if by some miracle I find myself with some free time, and I feel like reading a book, I stop and think "Okay, have I read my scriptures yet?" If the answer is yes, I move on to the next set, and so on. I don't really have a problem with daily scripture study - in fact I've been doing 30 minutes a day for several years now - but then I just move right on to the fun stuff. So now I'm making the time for more important studies.

Along with my mother's example (though she has a completely different plan for herself)*, this shift in priorities was inspired by the following scripture:

"And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith." (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118)

I realize we're only nine days into the new year, but so far it's going well and most mornings I have my hour of combined scripture/spiritual reading done before Daphne wakes up. It's a good feeling and sets the tone for my day. It's amazing how much more time I have when I put first things first.

*I think we all have to find out what works best for us. I'm not endorsing this reading schedule as the "right way" or the "best way" for anyone but myself. The important thing is that we're moving forward, coming to Christ, and trying to be a little better each day.